


It Scares Me How Much I Love You

by Quadrantje



Category: McLeod's Daughters
Genre: Episode 6x27 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Episode Fix-it, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-03
Updated: 2008-05-03
Packaged: 2021-01-03 18:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21183914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quadrantje/pseuds/Quadrantje
Summary: When Rose has run off with Leo, Stevie calls in the help of her best mate.





	It Scares Me How Much I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it was strange that Stevie didn't ask for Alex' help in this. In my story _Best Mates Too_ I explored how Alex would react to that. Here, I try to fix it.

**It Scares Me How Much I Love You**

When Alex picked up the phone, he could hear the rushing noise that told him the caller was outside, and, considering how loud the noise was, probably moving fast. Then Regan’s hurried tones carried over the line, talking so fast he could hardly understand her.

‘Wait, Regan, what? What happened to Rose?’ he tried to cut in. Regan’s voice faded away as he heard some confusion on the other side of the line. A moment later Stevie’s voice came over the line, sounding like she was shouting from a bit away.

‘Alex, just meet us at Selkirk’s. And hurry, Leo’s got Rose!’ he heard her shout. Then she continued on to say something about calling the police, but Alex wasn’t listening anymore. After a moment of shock, he’d jumped into action, slamming down the phone and rushing outside to his jute. With his heart racing, he didn’t know who he was more worried about; Rose or Stevie.

* * *

As he pulled into Selkirk’s property, Alex noticed Stevie’s ute was already there. A moment later he saw Stevie sprinting away around the house. He quickly parked his ute, though his action was hardly worth the name, and got out. As he slammed the door shut, he heard a scream erupting from the direction Stevie had just vanished in. A burst of fear-induced adrenaline filled his veins as he rushed after the sound. The scene that greeted his eyes when he turned the corner wasn’t pretty. He could see Stevie wrestling from underneath Leo as he pinned her to the ground and Rose looking on, seemingly frozen by the tree. A red haze flooded his senses and without any conscious thought he ran, launching himself at Leo and knocking him off Stevie. He didn’t even see Regan running up to them just a few seconds after he’d reached them, a pipe held at the ready. Everything was a blur as he kept pummelling his fists into Leo’s stomach. He didn’t know how long it took before he heard Regan’s shouts and noticed her attempts to stop him.

‘Alex! Alex, stop! Stop, he’s out cold!’ Only then did he realize Leo wasn’t fighting back anymore. Still slightly dazed, he let him go, and with some effort moved away from him, only half aware of Regan rushing past him to check Leo for a pulse. His gaze instinctively went to Stevie and Rose, anxious to see if they were okay. Stevie was hugging a still bewildered-looking Rose close to her, but thankfully both of them seemed okay. He staggered a bit as he got up, but quickly regained his footing. He walked over to them.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

Stevie’s gaze left Leo’s inert body and focused on him.

‘Yeah,’ she said, a bit unsteadily, ‘we’re fine. We’re both fine.’ A grateful smile flew over her face, though her eyes still looked a bit dazed from the shock. Rose hadn’t responded at all, but merely kept clinging to her mother, her breathing irregular. Stevie seemed to have noticed this too and gently shook her.

‘Rose. Rose, it’s over. Rose honey, are you okay?’ Rose lifted her head up from her mother’s chest and stared up at her, her gaze unfocused. It visibly took a few seconds for Stevie’s words to penetrate her mind. Then she awoke as if out of a trance.

‘Huh, what?’ she finally asked. ‘Oh, yeah, I’m okay. I’m ah… I’m gonna go get my stuff.’ Still slightly in a haze she started walking towards the house. Before Stevie could follow her, Regan jumped up and said she’d take care of it, quickly vanishing after the girl. Stevie stared after them.

‘So, are you really okay?’ Alex said after a few seconds of silence, looking at Stevie. She took her eyes off the spot her daughter had disappeared in with a bit of difficulty and glanced at him, smiling as he caught her eye.

‘Yeah, I am,’ she confirmed softly, still smiling at him. ‘And thanks for helping.’

Alex smiled back at her affectionately. ‘Anytime. I’m just glad you’re both okay.’ They shared a fond look.

‘We should go; they’re probably waiting for us.’ Stevie said, starting to walk back to the house.

‘Stevie-’ Alex started, obviously thinking she was avoiding the subject of their relationship again.

‘Oh and Alex,’ she interrupted him, smiling at him from over her shoulder, ‘when we get back to Drovers, let me just look after Rose and then I think we need to have a talk.’ She didn’t wait for a response before taking off with big strides.

Alex grinned to himself and quickly followed her.

* * *

A little over an hour later, at Drovers, Alex was waiting out on the porch for Stevie to say goodnight to Rose. He was staring out over the fields when he heard a soft noise behind him and whirled around. It was Stevie, carrying a couple of beers. When she met his eyes, she gave him a self-conscious smile. She’d been doing that around him a lot, he realized, and he resolved to clear everything between them tonight.

‘I thought you could use a beer,’ Stevie said, by way of greeting, holding out one of the bottles to him.

‘Yeah, thanks,’ he said as he took it. A few moments of strained silence ensued.

‘So, want to take a walk?’ Stevie finally ventured, a touch uncomfortable.

‘Sure,’ he answered, glad for something to do. They walked for a bit, still without either of them coming up with something to say. When they reached one of the fences, Alex decided he’d had enough.

‘Oh, this is ridiculous. Stevie, I can’t stop thinking about you. I love you and want us to be together, it’s that simple,’ he said with conviction, stopping and forcing Stevie to look at him.

‘It’s not simple, Alex, you’re married.’ Stevie argued, unwilling to overlook that aspect of it.

‘So what do you want me to do, get a divorce?’ Alex asked, a bit heatedly in response to Stevie’s tone.

‘I don’t want-!’ Stevie started, but then stopped, thought, took a deep breath and started again. ‘I don’t know what I want,’ she finally admitted, a bit dejectedly, ‘I want us to be together, but I don’t want to destroy your marriage and I don’t want to have an affair. And… and that doesn’t leave us with many options, does it?’ She looked up at Alex with despair in her eyes.

Alex looked back sadly. ‘No it doesn’t,’ he answered her softly, ‘but I don’t want us to be apart either.’ He lifted his hands to her face, to cradle it gently.

‘So what do we do now?’ Stevie whispered, her eyes locked with his.

‘Now,’ Alex started, ‘I tell Fiona that it’s over between us.’

‘But-’ Stevie began to protest.

‘No, it’s not going to work between us, especially now that I’ve found out how much I love you, that we could be together. I have to tell her it’s over.’

Stevie looked like she wanted to argue a bit more, but then nodded and said a quiet ‘okay.’

‘Good. Now, I guess I should get back.’

‘Yeah, I guess so.’

‘But I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Stevie gave him a small smile. ‘Sure. See you tomorrow.’ She waited for him to step back, but he didn't. He just kept looking at her, his thumb gently grazing her cheek. Stevie knew she should pull away, but she was frozen, caught in his eyes.

'Can I kiss you, Stevie?' Alex asked softly, his voice hoarse. Stevie hesitated a moment before nodding quickly. Alex slowly lowered his lips to hers, giving her another second to change her mind before their lips met. It was soft and brief, just a quick touch of his lips to hers. Then he let her go and disappeared into the darkness. Stevie hugged herself as she stared after him, hoping she’d done the right thing. After a few long minutes, she too headed back to Drovers.

** _The End_ **


End file.
